Today one of the cable broke on my 2014 Dyna Street Bob. It is nearer to the switch control. To check is it the throttle or idle cable? I can still throttle and the grip will still return to it's position. Is it still safe to ride?

 

Yes that's the idle cable that broke sounds like. I only use a pull cable on mine. It's safe to ride. The spring is strong enough to pull the throttle back to idle. You may not be able to adjust the throttle free play well without the idle cable.

 

Should be good, I drove my sportster like that for a while.

 

How does the idle cable just break? Just curious... It doesn't seem to be a highly stressed component.

 

You are good but fix asap. the needed parts are cheap and the work os easy.

 

rot, rust, over tightened, not lubricated.

I had one fail on my sporty. It started acting up then failed. Rusty badness

 

My father told me this a long time ago about mass produced vehicles....... "if it didn't need it, the manufacture wouldn't have paid to have it on there". I'm sure it's safe enough but I would get it fixed ASAP.

My 2 cents
Steve

 

The idle cable is mostly a safety feature. The throttle body (or carb) return spring is more than enough on a properly adjusted and maintained bike. If things are left to corrode and gum up (or bind) it's possible for the system friction to exceed the strength of the return spring.

Cars don't have an idle cable...but they're not likely to take on water or schmutz or anything like a bike can.